Matt Parker writes of the incredible influence of Martin Gardner, who died on Saturday,
aged 95. Gardner spent 25 years writing a weekly column about maths
puzzles forScientific American. “He tapped into the "lay nerd"
population of people who liked to think through a puzzle,” explains
Matt. Gardner was author of over 70 books and keen amateur magician; it
was an old copy of his second book Mathematics, Magic and Mystery that
first got Matt interested in mathematical magic tricks.

Matt has also co-authored The Manual of Mathematical Magic with Professor Peter McOwan of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering at Queen Mary.